This website www.molecularmovies.com pulls together many of the amazing science animations available on the web. These are great resources for learning, understanding, or even just some good old procrastination. Even when we Lucies don’t understand the videos, we still like watching them! In most cases if you want to know more the website can provide some basic information. And if you’re a scientist looking to create some of these amazing videos this website also has tons of free resources.

Check out one of the videos here and then visit the website for many more!

It’s baseball season again! Although, really, the Northeast, it’s always baseball season. And what goes together with baseball better than science? Well, maybe beer, but here’s some science anyway, all from the ever wonderful New York Times.

As you all know, we Lucies are hard-working grad students. Recently we’ve been a little more hard-working than usual so we haven’t had time for our favorite procrastination past-time, posting to BioBites. Alas, the situation will probably not improve for a few more weeks so bear with us as we try to get some work done in lab! We’ll post when we can.

Here’s a few science stories to keep you tided over till we return to our regular schedule:

Like the rest of the US, scientists are looking to see what piece of the stimulus package we’ll get. Under recent administration policies science funding has stagnated. When Obama mentioned science in his inaugural address scientists across the US cheered. Now that the new HUGE stimulus package is appearing, what does it really mean for science? Until a bill passes not much, but here’s what may be coming.
Two of the major sources of grant funding for academia, the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) could each be receiving around $3 billion. The Department of Energy and the Department of Defense (Biodefense) may receive $40 billion and $900 million, respectively. Other science related agencies may also receive additional funding.
So what does it all mean? Well, first the bill will have to be passed. After that happens, hopefully we’ll begin to see the funding distributed. Additional funding means more scientists and more discoveries. This will benefit the general public in a number of ways. Some of the effects will be immediate, like more jobs generated, both for scientists, and for those people that build equipment and consumables that scientists use. Some discoveries will have an effect over the next few years, like those associated with green technology. Other benefits will not be felt for years to come, since the drug discovery process takes years. Other effects will be less tangible but no less important. More money will hopefully encourage more Americans to become scientists, which will help America maintain her place as a world leader in science and innovation.
No matter what happens with the stimulus, more money for science benefits everyone.